Fishing boat QNa 95005 TS, along with its 42 crew members, was intercepted by Malaysian authorities on June 11 for violating its fishing laws. The crew were arrested. Five fishermen, who were either underage or had underlying health conditions, were immediately released and returned to Vietnam while the remainder were held in the country.
Right after being informed of the arrest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Malaysia to verify the situation and provided support for the arrested fishermen.
The fishermen were greeted by their relatives upon arrival at the airport. They then took a flight to their hometown in Danang.
Tran Thi Tinh, the wife of the boat owner Tran Van Manh cried after meeting her husband at the airport.
"I'm very happy to see him and all the other crew members come back safe and sound now," she said in tears. "I was so worried that I couldn't sleep properly during the past four months after he was detained with the crew."
The boat owner Tran Vanh Manh also cried tears of happiness when seeing his wife. He was so moved that he was left speechless.
The fishermen had a light meal while waiting for the transit flight to Danang City.
A crew member, Tran Van Tuan, said that they had experienced very hard days during their time being kept in Malaysia. They didn't have enough food and could only borrow a telephone once to call home. "We all burst into tears when we were informed that we would be released," Tuan said.
